On my recent trip to Australia I got to taste comprehensively at a few select wineries. Recommended by my good friend Sharon Wild, we drove into the Yarra Valley and visited at Oakridge, a property I know of because of the very reputation of their Chardonnays, but was otherwise unfamiliar with. This was my first trip to the Yarra, just west of Melbourne, and I was delighted to discover the rolling hills, reminiscent of the South Downs of England. Fertile because of the highest rainfall of any of Australia's main wine regions, and very green in the early Spring. The soil is grey loam overlying volcanic bedrock (which is near enough to the surface on the higher ground to make a difference to the wines, and in a good way). Oakridge is family-owned and was established in 1978. All the Oakridge wines are single vineyard, and the very new winery is a state of the art exercise in cantilevered smartness.

Thanks to Nils in the Oakridge Tasting room for taking us through an amazing range of wines.
Some of these wines are only available in the tasting room. Prices retail in AU$